Lisa and I wanted to go backpacking over 4th of July weekend, so we turned to the most spectacular place in Colorado: Crested Butte. I'd settled on the Raggeds Wilderness as our location, but picking a trail was problematic. After numerous books and web searches, I decided that we should start at the Oh-Be-Joyful trailhead, hike in about 6 miles to below Oh-Be-Joyful pass (and Blue Lake), camp, then the next day hike over an unnamed pass into Peeler Basin, following the trail down to Gunsight Pass road and back out to the car. It was an aggressive 17 mile loop (6 miles on day 1, 11 on day 2), but it was spectacular! The wildflowers were not yet at peak (unfortunately) but the surrounding glacial valleys (with the lush green colors and countless waterfalls) were amazing. You really can't go wrong in the Raggeds as far as I'm concerned!

Die hard Crested Butters Just when we thought our packs were awkward, these guys were saddling up at the trailheadLeading up the trail Tell me this doesn't look totally artificial... A glimmer of Democrat Basin ahead Looking up the Oh-Be-Joyful valley Flowers against the Dippold Basin in the distance Oh-Be-Joyful Peak Brian The layered ridge of Garfield Peak Peeler and Garfield Peak Not a bad view from our campsite Purple Peak visible in the distanceLisa Lisa and Brian A globeflower Globeflower Brian, shooting some photos Brian and Lisa Our campsite Garfield Peak and our pass to climb the next day mmm...dehydrated food Lisa plays with my camera while I pump water... Purple Peak Brian Brian Flowers and Garfield Peak The view from our campsite in the morning Sunlight on our tent Lisa mixes up some coffee in the Nalgeen 4Looking back on our campsite We pitched our tent just below the stand of trees in the center of the frameJust a few waterfalls come down from Blue Lake Lisa crosses a stream A panorama at Blue Lake Looking across the basin at our trail Our trail cuts diagonally from lower left to the notch in the ridgeLisa at Blue Lake Brian photographs the valley Blue Lake, perched up on a basin shelf Brian on the pass Lisa on the pass Brian and Lisa Looking down in Peeler Basin from the pass An ant carries of a piece of cheese that Lisa dropped Lisa hikes down the Peeler Basin side of the pass Lisa crosses a stream in Peeler Basin Brian crosses the stream Parry's Primrose Not a bad view of the Elk range A perfectly natural color for a stream...below a mine.... This was in Redwell Basin below the Daisy MineThe Daisy Mine in Redwell Basin below Gunsight Pass Looking along the northern flank of Oh-Be-Joyful valley If you squint real hard, you can see most of our ascent trail in the Oh-Be-Joyful valley 2000 feet below us Lisa The view from Wolverine Basin (I swear - I"m not making these names up)Mt. Crested Butte from the trail An old rail car at an abandoned mine Just to top it off, a light dusting of snow on the top of Cottonwood pass on the drive home